Where to start investing in PDX Suburbs.

[Jake Guthrie]

Hey all! My wife and I have been living and renting in Raleigh Hills neighborhood of the Portland Metro area for the past 4-5 years. As we are now getting into our 30's we've been looking for ways to start generating passive income and we always seem to come back to rental properties as being a viable option for us. We just can't seem to get started. I know, I know. Stop over analyzing and do something about it. 

My only hold up is the fact that we don't currently own a home and we're way off of 20% of a down payment in savings for the areas prices. I have a decent income and credit score and seeing as my wife left her career to become self employed this summer. I'd most likely be going through the loan approval process on my own at first as she's still getting her business off the ground. I've been researching more and more of the BRRRR method and seems like our best bet since we have little to no down payments. As I mentioned before we're currently renting so we would like to own a house in the near future as well. I could possibly see us House-Hacking a duplex or something along those lines as well, but I'm not sure how that process even looks for someone with not a lot of money to put down. Would you recommend starting the investment process prior to owning your own home? What would be the advantage of the BRRRR method over house hacking for someone staring out with little money for down payments? Also, if utilizing the BRRRR method with "Hard Money Loans" what's the best time to look into getting one of those loans? Before or after you talk to a real estate agent and find a possible property?

As you can see my questions on the subject are a little scattered. We're just a couple of newbies trying to find our way to financial freedom so any advice is greatly appreciated.